Comb



Patented Dec. 2, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 8 Claims. Thisinvention relates in general to combs, and

more particularly to combs for hairdressing purposes.

Objects of the invention include the provision of a comb having means bywhich liquids may be scooped up and applied to the hair; the provisionof means by which the teeth of the comb are utilized to take up andretain such liquid as water, hair-lotion, wave-set, tonic, coloring, orother fluid materials; the provision of comb teeth which will take upand evenly spread liquids on the hair; the provision of means comprisingenclosures or shelves formed by the teeth and the back of the comb fortaking up a larger load or liquid than possible heretofore, such meansalso being used to scrape excess liquid from the hair surface, retainsuch excess, and enable it to be worked into the hair on a subsequentstroke of the comb; and the provision of a comb having means for a morerapid, accurate, and even method of applying liquids to the hair.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is afront elevation of a comb embodying one form of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of another form of the invention, with partsbroken away;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a further form of the invention; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view thru the teeth of a still furthermodification.

Figs. 1 and 2 disclose a comb having a back III to which the roots ofthe teeth of an ordinary comb are connected. In the present instance,teeth [4 may correspond in depth, 1. e. distance from side to side ofthe comb, to the teeth of the conventional comb, as will be apparentfrom Fig. 2. These teeth It may occur every third tooth, the twointervening teeth it being much less in depth than teeth It, so that inefiect teeth l4 rise up or extend out to a greater distance than teethl8. This arrangement may be made with alternate deep teeth, or withevery fourth, fifth, etc. tooth a deep tooth, depending on theappearance desired, or other considerations. Also, the deep teeth l4 maybe raised above normal teeth, or the teeth of less depth may be sunkenbelow the normal teeth, the latter con- Also, of course, the deep teethIt may appear on both sides of the comb.

The comb back l0 may be cut or molded along curved lines to form rearwalls 20, and as shown, three-sided enclosures having bottoms 22 arethus provided, such bottoms being in the same general plane as the frontfaces of teeth IS.

The efiect of the above-described structure is to present a series ofthin transverse dams, composed of teeth l4 and a rear wall 20, betweeneach dam, to provide an enclosure or shelf for I the scooping up andretention of liquids, without, however, .afiecting the use of the combper se Hence, a comb embodying the present invention may be dipped intoa bottle of wave-set, coloring, tonic, etc. and relatively large amountsof such liquid will be retained between the dams, thus avoiding theapplication of the liquid by separate means. The surface tension of theliquid will insure against its falling thru the spaces between the teethand therefore teeth I6, together with surfaces 22 will form the bottomof a large shelf area for liquid retention. This structure provides forpicking up a many times greater volume of liquid than combs in the priorart.

Also, the dams will prevent the liquid from flowing down to one end ofthe comb, as usually happens, and keep the liquid evenly distributedover the entire comb area which has been dipped in a bottle or heldundera water-tap. This results in avoidance of spilling the liquid on theclothes when the comb is not in horizontal position.

A further use of the present comb resides in its capability to scrapeexcess liquids and oils from the hair, since it is clear that uponrunning the comb thru the hair, such excesses will be izigposited on theshelves formed by the bottoms Figs. 3 and 4 show a modification-of theinvention wherein all the teeth 24 and 26 are of the same depth, but thelatter have been reduced at the lower back area 28, so that smallerenclosures are formed, these enclosures being limited by the back area28, teeth 24 and back 30. These enclosures perform the same functions asthe shelves disclosed in Fig. 1, but of course are smaller.

Fig. 5 shows what may be termed the preferred embodiment of theinvention, wherein the teeth and back may be similar to either that ofFig. 1 or of Fig. 3, but a rat-tail handle 32 is applied. This rat-tailhas a groove 34 longitudinally thereor, and this groove not only adds tothe appeardition being that disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2. ance of thehandle, but forms a guide by which a hobby pin may be slid up into acurl. which has been previously rolled on the handle. This is a 'veryconvenient means by which the curl may have a pin applied to hold it.There may be a groove 34 on each side of the rat-tail.

Fig. 6 presents a still further modification in which the teeth ll arestaggered, as seen in cross-section, so that liquid retaining enclosures42 are formed on both sides of the comb.

It is to be understood that the grooved rat-tail 32 may be used with any01' the tooth forms, and that any tooth form may appear on one or bothsides of the comb.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do notwish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than asset forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. A comb having two series of teeth, the teeth of one series extendingat least in part laterally beyond the teeth of the other series. saidteeth of said one series being greater in depth than said teeth of saidother series.

2. A comb having a back, a'plurality of teeth extending from said back,certain oi said teeth extending beyond the other teeth in a directionaway from the longitudinal central plane of the comb, all of said teethintersecting the longitudinal central plane of said comb substantiallythroughout their lengths.

3. A comb as recited in claim 2, in which further teeth extend from saidone edge oi said back at said reduced portion on a level therewith andforming extensions of said reduced portions to form long narrow shelvesbetween said,

first mentioned teeth.

4. A comb having a back, a series 01 relatively widely spaced teethrunning upon said back and having reduced shell! portions therebetween,and, teeth of less depth than said first-mentioned teeth extending fromsaid shellportions, said teeth oi less depth and said shell portionsforming the bottoms of enclosures of which the nrstmentioned teeth tomthe sides.

5. A comb having a back,'a series of teeth running up on said back,certain of said teeth running up on said back to a less degree thanother teeth, to thereby form enclosures between said other teeth, thelatter forming lateral barriers for said enclosures.

6. A comb having a back. a plurality 01' teeth extending from said back,certain of said teeth extending laterally oi the comb beyond other teethin a direction normal to the comb, said teeth forming liquid retainingscoops in which said certain teeth form the side walls and said otherteeth form the bottoms, said other teeth being close enough together toprevent drainage of liquids therebetween.

7. A comb having a back of substantial thickness, a reduced portion onsaid back, said reduced portion extending from a point intermediate theedges of the back to one edge thereof, spaced teeth on said comb at saidone edge, said teeth extending up on said back and forming side wallsfor said reduced portion, the comb back forming a rear wall therefor,said reduced portion thereby forming a scoop walled on three sides.

8. A comb having a pair of teeth and at least one tooth between saidpair and spaced therefrom, said pair of teeth extending, in general,laterally oi the comb beyond said one tooth, and a depression on theback of the comb, said pair of teeth extending onto the comb back inposition to form sides for the depression, said depression and said onetooth forming a scoop, the latter having narrow slots in a portionthereof, said slots being occasioned by the spacing of the teeth.

EARL S. TUPPER.

